User talk:Fireheart62
Welcome Hi, welcome to Creepypasta Wiki! Thanks for your edit to the User talk:Banningk1979 page. Please be sure to check out all the Site Rules, as it is important to follow them. Failure to abide by them may result in your account being blocked. Read some new pastas by checking out or browse by topic by checking out the Genre Listing. Please leave a message on my talk page if I can help with anything! Jay ten (talk) 17:30, November 3, 2015 (UTC) I'll help if I can Hey, In regards to your request for my thoughts on the Slenderman Stabbings, I would be happy to assist. If you could send me a bit more information, such as which news paper this report is for and the overall intent of the story, I'll be glad to assist. K. Banning Kellum (talk) 17:43, November 3, 2015 (UTC) Answers Here are my responses to the questions you left. I hope this helps you with your project. 1. (This one should be easy) In your opinion, who is the Slenderman? Honestly, the question here shouldn't be "who" is the slenderman, but rather, "what" is slenderman. To phrase the question in such a manner as to give life and identity to a fictional character, is likely a similar course of thinking that led to this tragedy in the first place. The character of Slenderman is just that, a fictional character that was created online and spread about as sort of a new age urban legend. '' ''The character grew in popularity online, and since slenderman was more or less an open source character, he was free to be used by others in games, stories, artwork and much more. In a sense, slenderman was born and raised online. '' ''Now, to clarify what I stated at the start, people began to likely think that such a character as slenderman could be real, and perhaps the legends were based on some degree or truth. Combine that with the evolution of the character, and it's likely that these kids involved in the stabbings became carried away and began to confuse reality with fiction. That is why it is important to remember that slenderman, and all other such entities that show up in such stories, are works of FICTION. '' 2. Were you affected by this tragedy, and how? ''I was not personally affected by this incident, no. As a writer and artist though, it reminded me of how quickly a fictional character or concept can be blamed for a real life act of violence. Keep in mind, I grew up in the 80's and 90's, during a time when it was very popular to blame artist and artistic platforms for violence and tragedy that happened in real life. I recall hearing how heavy metal music was supposed to be evil, or that even certain games, like Dungeons and Dragons, were responsible for deaths and violence. So, hearing a story blamed for a violent act is nothing new, it just reminded me that when tragedy happens, it is rather natural to try and place blame on something that is distant. This is no different than when books were banned in the past because they were believed to spark violent acts. '' 3. How were the families involved impacted by this event? ''I honestly can't say exactly how the families reacted, although I am quite sure that all members involved were horrified at what happened. I certainly feel a great deal of sympathy for all the family members and the victim, of course. As a parent myself, I couldn't imagine hearing something like that happened to my child. We can only hope that parents took notice across the country, and hopefully this brought about a greater awareness that internet use by minors needs to be monitored as closely as possible. 4. Why would the perpetrators of this crime take such drastic measures to appease a fictional creature? It was likely a combination of reasons. They clearly became obsessed with the character of slenderman, to the point of believing that he was real. They clearly were wrapped up in the slenderman spin-off stories, since they believed that they would be made into "proxies" once they finished their plan, and it would seem, at least from my point of view, that a certain degree of mental illness and delusion were likely involved, as they actually believed that something positive would happen if they murdered their friend. '' ''What is both frightening and saddening about this event, is that it was allowed to go as far as it did. When I was a kid, I remember thinking I could smash open a toaster and pull out all of the components to make a time machine. I never did though, because I knew my mother would be furious if I did something like that. I wish these kids could have had a similar understanding of reality and consequence vs. fantasy and imagination. '' 5. What was the impact of the Stabbing? ''For the families of all those involved, the impact was a horrible crime of violence. For the rest of us, let it serve as a reminder that fiction is exactly that, FICTION. No matter how well written or described a character in a story such as slenderman may be, it is, in the end, just a story. We as parents and adults must do a better job of being involved with our kids, finding out what their interests are, and perhaps researching those interests if we do not know much about them. I'm not blaming the parents, because for all I know, they were doing all of that, and perhaps their kids were just deceptive about their intentions. I am not blaming the story of slenderman itself, because it is a form of art, and therefore only exists to be what it is, nothing less, nothing more. '' ''In fact, blame here is almost moot, as the act is done and the impact will be what it will be for those involved and for the rest of the country. Some will be greatly impacted, others will see this as just another event to talk about over coffee at work, and some will likely think nothing of it at all. If there is a lesson at all to be learned here though, it is this: TALK. If you're a kid and you feel that you're starting to form an obsession with a fictional character that blurs the lines of reality, talk to your parents, a teacher, or some trusted adult. '' ''If you're a parent and you find that your child is shifting their behavior or interests, talk to them, find out, ask questions and offer guidance. Communication will always be the counter for disaster. This story feels incomplete which is also against our site rules. EmpyrealInvective (talk) 18:05, November 21, 2017 (UTC)